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Slammin' from 1996 to 1984

Today's Slam magazine retro cover is one of my favorites. It features what I consider the greatest NBA Draft class of all time- the Nine-Six.


Everything was slammin' about this draft except for the Warriors' #11 pick.

This draft changed the league forever. Take a look at some of the names that went 1-10 before the Warriors made their pick at the 11th spot:

  1. Allen Iverson
  2. Marcus Camby
  3. Shareef Abdur-Rahim
  4. Stephon Marbury
  5. Ray Allen
  6. Antoine Walker
  7. Lorenzen Wright
  8. Kerry Kittles
  9. Samaki Walker
  10. Erick Dampier
And with the number 11 pick in the 1996 NBA draft the Warriors took...
Todd Fuller!

The amazing thing is that the Warriors ended up taking the only player in NBA history who's college GPA was higher than their career points per game. Now that's smart!

No biggie right? Just another draft pick wasted a la Adonal Foyle and Mike Dunleavy. Well, not so fast. Take a look at this list of players who were drafted after the Warriors took Todd Fuller:

  1. Kobe Bryant
  2. Peja Stojakovic
  3. Steve Nash
  4. Tony Delk
  5. Jermaine O'Neal
  6. Zyndrunas Ilgauskas
  7. Derek Fisher
We know the Warriors' messed big time in the draft, but the real question is: Which was a better overall draft 1996 or 1984 which produced hoops legends galore in Akeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, and some guy named Michael Jordan?

Compare for yourself and vote in the comments section
1996 NBA Draft [NBADraft.net]
1984 NBA Draft [NBADraft.net]

By the way in 1984 the Warriors took Steve Burtt, Jay Murphy, Othell Wilson, and Gary Plummer in the 2nd round, Lewis Jackson in the 3rd, Steve Bartek and Scott McCollum in the 5th, and Tony Martin in the 6th, Cliff Higgins in the 7th, Paul Brozovich in the 8th, Mitch Arnold in the 9th, and Tim Bell in the 10th round. Back then the NBA was only 22 teams deep and the draft went much longer than the current 2 rounds. Can any of our older and wiser GSoM members give us a little history on any of these players? Younger fans want to know!

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